A portion of our fellow citizens in another part of this Union, had, by no fault or agency of their own, become involved in the evils and calamities of slavery. We turned our eyes in that direction, and looked on the dark pictures. We felt that we were great sinners. Guilt pressed heavily upon us. "The sorrows of death compassed us: and the pains of hell got hold upon us;" and we "found trouble and sorrow." The anguish of our guilt was insupportable. We were in deep distress, and we longed for some thing to soothe and ease our troubled minds: but we did not, with the Psalmist, call upon the Lord to "deliver us." No! By no means, for we thought if we could find worse sinners than ourselves, it would afford us some relief.
Twas thus we sought, but sought in vain A panacea for all our pain! Are there not those more vile than we-- If baser mortal man can be! We looked around--and looked again, And searched the world--but searched in vain; For more depraved--more vile than we Sure there were none--none could there be! Alas our souls are steeped in sin! Though clean without--impure within-- As sepulchers adorned with paint A devil within--without a saint!
Our condition was pitiable indeed. We said among ourselves, "What now shall we do?" "Where! O! Where shall we find worse sinners than ourselves?" Our woe-begone looks betrayed the secret workings and intentions of our hearts; We again went forth in search of those more wicked than ourselves; but we were destined to disappointment, for we sought in vain,--they were hard to find. They were neither here--nor there--nor any where to be found in all the land of the living! Worse sinners than ourselves could not be found upon this terrestial globe--among all the degenerate sons and daughters of Adam. When we had well nigh given up in despair, we again directed our eyes to the dark picture of African slavery. "Oh!" said we, to ourselves, "how it would soothe and tranquilize our troubled consciences, if we could but find worse sinners than ourselves." "We know that we are vile and depraved, but are not those slaveholders, a little worse than we are?" Anxiously and intensely we gazed on, but we were disappointed! The picture was dark, _to be sure_; but we failed to observe all that we expected! We then called for glasses that magnified a thousand fold, and again, and again, we surveyed the dark picture! Ah! we saw something at last! What was it? Well, we either saw something, or, otherwise, we thought we saw something. Chagrin and despair seized upon us, and we exclaimed in the bitter agonies of our souls, "merciful God, are we sinners above all sinners--are there none, so vile as we are?" "But stop--hold on," (said we), "we are not done with negrodom yet--we cannot let those rascally slaveholders off so lightly--we will yet make it appear, that they are more wicked than ourselves--or, at all events, we will not give them up yet." It was but seldom that we troubled the good old Bible, but as we were in a difficulty, we decided at once to consult her--perchance she might talk about right on the subject of slavery. After a long search we found the old book; brushed off the dust and opened it. Well, now, we felt quite certain, that the Bible would tell us, that we were better Christians than slaveholders; for we had already succeeded in persuading ourselves, that we were not quite so bad as we imagined at the outset; and we moreover thought, that we got a glimpse of some thing dreadful about these Southern folks, but hardly knew what it was. We then proceeded to examine the Bible. "Where is it," (said we), "that the Bible denounces these slaveholders, as the chief of sinners?" "Well, we don't know, but we think it says something dreadful about them; but we don't know where it is, or what it is." We searched, but searched in vain; almost ready to abuse the good Boob, because it refused to abuse slaveholders. We then soliloquized in the following words. "We don't like these slaveholders--never did--nor did our fathers before us. Our fathers told us that they were bad men--that they were guilty of many horrible things; and that they were not good Christians, like the people out here North." We were, nevertheless, still oppressed by a load of guilt, and felt the insupportable gnawings of a guilty conscience.